*Antonio Pierce* Just Said The Starting Job IS AIDAN O'CONNELL'S TO LOSE

Guess what? I'm sick. However, if you think, first of all, my voice is kind of sick, if we're being honest, in a good way. If you think that's going to stop me from answering the question that everyone's been asking for the last couple days, then you're dead wrong. That question is this. Who the f*** is Michael Lombardi? Like, who is he? Like, I know who he is. I know who he is. But who is he? Like, who is he? Like, who is he, you know? Antonio Pierce is making the rounds, doing his little press tour like all the other coaches, because the Combine has started. Happy Combine, everybody. Linemen, bench press, and quarterbacks refusing to throw to receivers that they're not used to throwing to as if they're going to be in the league and be used to throwing to those receivers. And then you got Caleb Williams saying, you know, I think I'm just going to keep my medical records to myself, because why would I make you wanting to draft me any easier? I'm going to make it as difficult as possible, you know, because difficulty is what people are looking for in their top prospects. The conversation about quarterbacks, about Raiders drafting one, signing one, O'Connell starting, blah, blah, blah, has been something to discuss since AP took over and he said, we're going to go with Aiden, he gives us the best chance to win. Great moment. Somebody asked him, I think it was Hondo said, Antonio, every time you talk about a quarterback. You bring up Aiden O'Connell. You bring him up. You seem that you really want to, you go out of your way to defend him. Can you speak a little to that? And he said, yeah, everyone said, you know, after the Minnesota Vikings game, I should just bench Aiden O'Connell. I'm rolling with him. And all this noise about us, you know, drafting quarterbacks, bringing people in, hasn't affected him. He's been in the gym. He's been at the weight room. He's been on the field practicing every day, blah, blah, blah. And he said, whoever we bring in has to beat Aiden O'Connell. It is Aiden O'Connell's job to lose. There's a certain way to take that. You could take that as Antonio Pierce being diplomatic and giving Aiden O'Connell the benefit of the doubt, even though he knows we're going to bring someone in to replace him. And if you are of that camp, then I would say that you are in the wrong camp. And the reason I say that is because Antonio Pierce is anything but diplomatic. He went on the Max Crosby podcast and he said we're going to have Michael Jordan rules for Patrick Mahomes and hit him a lot and rough him up, and that exploded the world for no reason. And then he was asked about that in this, and he was like, I don't apologize for who I am, next question. So he would not say Aiden O'Connell is not going into the offseason as the starter. Even when we bring someone in, if he doesn't truly believe it. And there's a couple reasons why that is actually important. Because he would not say something if he didn't think the locker room would be okay with it. I'm not saying that he would be diplomatic for the locker room. I'm saying he's a player's coach. And he knows the pulse of the people that play for the Raiders. And that play under his tutelage. Good word. Tutelage. And I think he thinks... That the people in the locker room, especially the people on offense, really respect Aiden O'Connell. I don't know if they think that he's the best option at quarterback, but I think that he earned a lot of respect this year going into hostile environments, being thrown into the fire when he probably wasn't ready. I mean, look, Jordan Love was a first overall pick for the Green Bay Packers and waited four years before he could start. Aiden O'Connell was a fifth rounder, or excuse me, a fourth rounder. And he came in halfway through a season where he should not have been in with an interim head coach and an interim play caller. And he threw more touchdowns than interceptions than he went four and four. And he was competitive in every single game he played. The defense was great, I know. We could talk about this till we're blue in the face. And I think at some point I will make my prediction as to who I think will be the week one starter. But again, and I've said this in videos before, but I think it is time for me to make a video solely on this So people understand exactly what. could happen and so people can prepare themselves not again for the worst prepare themselves for the potential of Aiden O'Connell starting week one next year because i've seen raider youtubers go if Aiden O'Connell is a week one starter i'm not a raider fan anymore i i just i i i struggle to understand And again, if I wasn't sick, I'd have a little more energy. But also, we've been talking about this forever. I struggle to understand the logic behind taking a fourth-round rookie quarterback who played as well as he did. I'm not saying he played well. I'm saying he played as well as he did. And to say, you know what? Back up is absolute lunacy, insanity, irresponsible decision-making. Okay, he's slow. That's not a criticism of Aiden O'Connell, to say that he's slow. A criticism would say that he's inaccurate or he makes bad decisions, right? But to say he's slow is to say Kyler Murray's short. Like, that's just who he is. So if you can... Come to terms with the fact that these people are who they are physically and that they are not going to change physically, then you can just get down to brass tacks of evaluating these quarterbacks. You know who else is slow? Tom Brady, Peyton Manning. How about people in the league right now? Jared Goff is pretty slow. Should have went to the Super Bowl. Aiden O'Connell, I'm telling you, made throws that people who have been starting for 10 years do not make consistently. Go watch the Jets highlights. There's a throw to triple coverage Davante Adams. Left field, not open, right, bang. Again, there was multiple Jacoby Myers passes in the Chiefs game. There was bombs to Trey Tucker. I feel like I'm repeating myself, and I'm going crazy because people are not understanding what it's like for a rookie quarterback to come in and do what they do. People are looking past to say, we got to get the next Mahomes, and I would love to do that. But sometimes you got to play the hand you're dealt. And Antonio Pierce has stated clearly for the record that Aiden O'Connell is the week one starter unless somebody comes in and shows that they are going to perform better than him. Now, he did also say Max Crosby is competing and Davante Adams is competing. So that's his mindset is that every job can be taken by someone playing better. But he doesn't mince words, man. I'm telling you. There was a world in which he could have said, you know what, we'll just stick with Jimmy instead of Aiden O'Connell. And people would have been like, all right, let's see, what can we do with Jimmy? But Aiden O'Connell has a legit chance to be the Week One starter, especially if we don't trade up. Because now the Patriots seem like they're drafting a quarterback. And unless we're going to take a Penix in the second round. There's not going to be much competition other than some Jacoby Brissett, Baker Mayfield combination. And don't be surprised if Aiden O'Connell is a Week One starter. And don't be surprised. You know what's going to actually make me upset? It's not going to make me upset, but it's going to annoy me. Next year when Aiden O'Connell plays well, and people go like, you know what? I was always on the AOC train. I knew it. Just give him time. Just give him time. Go watch Derek Carr's rookie year. They went 3-13. Started out 0-10. I mean, I feel like a lot of Raider fans are forgetting what it's like to have a rookie quarterback. And also, if we draft someone, they're going to play just as bad as Aiden O'Connell did. That's just what's going to happen. There are rare instances where you have a C.J. Stroud who is God's gift to football, or you have somebody like Johnny Manziel who just doesn't have it from the get-go. But most people are somewhere in the middle of, maybe. Showing flashes, a little eh. Look at Josh Allen's stats, his rookie year. Look at Joe Burrow's stats, his rookie year. The writing is on the wall, and we have to come to terms with the idea that Aiden O'Connell, now Antonio Pierce is saying it, might be the Week One starter. Look at all these mock drafts. We're not trading up. We're drafting defensive tackles from the Texans, you know, or cornerbacks from Iowa. Like, this is going to potentially happen. And I don't want people to be surprised. They could be angry if they want. Everyone has their opinion. No right or wrong. But do not be surprised if number four is your starter next year. And don't be surprised if he has success. Because I'm willing to stake my reputation on the fact that he actually could be a starter in this league. Alright, again, I apologize for the low energy. But videos don't stop. For my viewers, they never will stop. Unless the Raiders, like, you know, cease to exist. Which, I don't see that happening. We just hit 10 patrons on Patreon. Big milestone. 10 people have decided that they want to give me a little more support to get some more exclusive content and early access to videos and their name at the end of the credits. Shout out to my new patron. I forgot his name. Remington, I believe, is his or her name. It's here in the credits with the rest of them. Shout out to you. Go check it out. If you have the means and you're able to, I'm trying to make this thing a full-time job, and that's the best way for me to do it. So if you can go check the Patreon out, you get so much bonus stuff, so much bang for your buck. It's ridiculous. 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